The book you want to write; never started. Those music lessons you think about – never taken. How about the half written new business plan proposal or the college brochures collecting dust? These are the dreams we give away to “live” our lives. But our lives are slipping away to the unwanted consequences of living under the glass ceiling of limitation of time, resources, or initiative to achieve our dream. Why do we do this? I think it is because we always think there will be a better time or better circumstances to try to do the things we really want to do. Yet, years pass, circumstances do not change, or worse, they deteriorate. Today, I am challenging you to break the glass ceilings and begin to live from your unlimited potential.

A glass ceiling is a seemingly un-penetrable invisible barrier that keeps us from pursuing a higher goal in our life. Most generally these barriers come in the form of time, money, lack of support, or lack of belief in ourselves. But these higher goals (dreams) should not be ignored and frankly the fact that you have them and have had them for a long time should indicate to you that these dreams come from a much deeper and wiser source, your spirit or higher self.

Sometimes our goals come and go and these are goals that come more from the “neediness” of our ego that is constantly looking to expand itself. We get all these crazy notions in our heads about what we think we should be doing and call it a dream. But really it is just another version of limitation we place on ourselves and has nothing to do with a genuine dream.

Creative Tip: Go outside – nature has a way of expanding our perceived limits with its expansive qualities and constant change.

Making it to the corner office in a corporate job you can barely stand is not a dream goal, it’s a prison sentence. Bottom line; any dream that’s motivation is money, fame, power, or popularity is a dream built on shifting sand. Dreams or goals that have the intention to “take” something from someone else for our own personal gain will always, at the end of the day, be our downfall.

The authentic dreams are the ones that when we think about or visualize ourselves doing them, makes us feel good, lifted. These are the dreams we have where money or status don’t matter, but the “doing” of the dream feels pleasing and meaningful to us. We may end up making a lot of money or getting a lot of fame in the pursuit of our authentic dreams, but the goal is the actualization of the dream, not the consequences from it. But, we put these types of dreams on hold because we think that first we have to make the money, get the fame/status, or get the kids through school or whatever, AND THEN, we can pursue the real dream.

There will always be a something else more to do (aka glass ceiling) in our minds if we don’t stop that ridiculous tape loop of reasons NOT to pursue our dreams. So, let’s just say, “What the hell” and start – it certainly is better than watching TV, or joining a third bowling league, or endlessly fidgeting around the house to tidy up. So here are some tips on pursuing your dreams. These tips work, IF you use them. That is the first tip: In order to pursue your dreams, you must make a commitment to yourself that you are worth it and that you ARE going to do this.

Here are some others:

Take a step every day in the direction of your dreams. You may not be able to quit your job right now, sell your home and go live in the mountains/beach/prairie to pursue a dream, but you can dedicate time every week to learning more about your dream, or network with others with similar interests, google it, read about it, buy a few things to support it, and so on. Whatever your dream is, even if you have no money and very little time, there Is no dream that cannot be pursued, at least in some measure, every day.

Let me give you a relational example. Let’s say that you dreamed that you wanted to be a millionaire. Probably not the best dream to pursue for the fulfillment of the soul, but it works well for my example. You have no idea how to become a millionaire and you know that with your current salary, this seems like an un-achievable dream. But you believe in yourself and so you begin to take a step towards your dream every day. You put a dollar a day into a mutual fund or some interest bearing account. You can easily afford a dollar and you think it might be fun see how well you do with this task towards your dream.

So, it took awhile, but by never giving up and pursuing your dream every day, by the time your reach 65 or 70, depending on when you started this task – you are a millionaire.

Even though my sample dream task was super simple to highlight my point, our dreams are much easier to pursue than my example demonstrates because we are much closer to them emotionally. The point is with every step you take, your actions compound to make the reality of your dream become much clearer. You learn more, you develop more passion towards the craft or the skill and you gain a deeper intuition towards yourself and your dream. Additionally, when you commit to it and work towards it, your dreams begin to seem closer and much more achievable.

This is by far the most important and critical step you can take to begin fulfilling your dreams. Many people will read this and think, “Yeah – I should start doing this.” But later, like weeks later, they vaguely remember that they were going to start and find something else to occupy the mind to let it go – again. Don’t delay this time – get up NOW and begin. (Well after you finish reading this article anyway.)

Don’t worry about the end goal - Whether it’s 1M dollars, performing at Carnegie Hall or showcasing your first invention, – it will all unfold as you go along. Just begin with ANYTHING and every day take one more step towards it. Our dreams may seem so far away from our current reality or like they are too big. NO DREAM IS TOO BIG! Just begin and you will be directed in the right path as you learn more and get more involved in your dream.

Vision Boards and Visualizing – As you begin to get involved in taking steps toward your dream, spend a little time every day visualizing the next step or seeing yourself living your dream right now! I like to do this right before bed and I sometimes find that my sleeping dreams support my waking dreams with additional insight or symbolic direction. Another fun and helpful activity is using a vision board. Begin collecting words, pictures, or anything related to your dream and pinning them on a cork board or making a collage in a Powerpoint or Word document. Be creative and have fun.

Do an exchange - Exchange some mundane meaningless task in your current routine, like ironing (who irons anymore anyway), or picking up toys every night, to give yourself more time to pursue your dreams. Think about the benefits of the mundane task and how this is really helping you or others. If what you do is not truly benefiting you or others in your day – drop it and exchange it for pursuing your dream. Why in heavens name would be put weed wacking, vacuuming (again), or watching Pawn Star reruns over our life’s dream?

Schedule It – Make Saturday mornings (or your choice), dream pursuit time. Dedicate a specific time to pursuing your dreams. Be serious about this and if you wish, keep this to yourself. Tell your family this is your down time or “me” time or whatever, but take this time for yourself. When your dreams are actualized, they will thank you for it later.

Now the turbo charged tips …….

Believe in yourself and your dream – It’s Real! – You have a dream because you are intended to have one. This is the purpose of your life for crying out loud. You would not have a dream of becoming a star basketball player if you were 4’10”, but instead your shorter frame probably dreams of becoming a featherweight boxer, jockey, or an artist. Your dreams are your spirit asking you to pay attention to your authentic purpose. Remember, dreams are never authentic if they take something away from someone else and if the end goal is only about propping up the ego with money, status or power. They are about busting through the invisible barriers we build around ourselves to free our spirit, to soar!

Be the dream – In a metaphysical sense, since you have the dream, the dream is already actualized in you. All you have to do is break through the glass ceiling to achieve it. Spend time understanding and having an awareness of the things you allow to limit your dreams. Do the work that is needed to let these limitations go and daily enhance your inherent freedom and meaning. Feel the experience of already living the dream. Frankly the only reason you aren’t living the dream already is because your mind has told you a story that you can’t for a multitude of reasons, and it’s a crappy story, so lose it. Letting go of your attachment to your limitations Is hard work, but please, give yourself this chance –

Be aware of your limitations

Do the work to let them go

Replace limiting habits and behaviors with uplifting, encouraging and motivating behaviors and beliefs.

Come on guys and gals! Life is meant to be bountiful, full of love, joy and amazing experiences. Don’t give away any more of your precious life to anything less than you deserve, which is to live the life you have always dreamed of. No matter what it is, there is ALWAYS SOMETHING you can do today, right now, to begin living your dream. Ok, now get up, right now, and begin.